Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao, known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest Award for films in India. In 1980, he was awarded the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, for his contribution to Telugu cinema.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Central Studios was an Indian film studio in the neighbourhood of Singanallur, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, started by B.Rangaswamy Naidu and other prominent industrialists like Swamikannu Vincent of Coimbatore in 1935 to make Tamil and other South Indian language movies. The studio was a major hub of Tamil movie production and notable for its association with many early day Tamil Movie Superstars, directors and script writers etc. and many making their career debuts here. The studio is best remembered for movies like Sivakavi, Velaikari and Haridas.
Rajakumari (transl. Princess) is a 1947 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. S. A. Sami, starring M. G. Ramachandran and K. Malathi. It was released on 11 April 1947.
Sri Murugan is a 1946 Indian Tamil-language film produced by Jupiter Pictures and directed by M. Somasundaram and V. S. Narayanan. The film featured Honnappa Bhagavathar in the lead role. M. G. Ramachandran performed a dance number, Shiva Thandavam along with K. Malathi in the film.
M. G. Ramachandran, popularly known by his initials "MGR", was an Indian actor, director and producer who had an extensive career primarily in Tamil language films. After starring in numerous commercially successful films from the 1950s to the early 1970s, he has continued to hold a matinée idol status in Tamil Nadu. Ramachandran made his debut in Ellis R. Dungan's 1936 film Sathi Leelavathi, where he played a police inspector. He followed it with a string of minor appearances and supporting roles in many films, notably Ashok Kumar (1941), where he played the general of emperor Ashoka's army, and as a captain in Dungan's Meera (1945).
Subburayulu Munuswami Subbaiah Naidu was an Indian composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was one of the oldest music directors. He worked as an in-house music composer for Central Studios and Pakshiraja Studios and well associated with S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. SMS also worked with many films under Jupiter Pictures banner and a favorite of M. G. Ramachandran.
Marmayogi is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film directed by K. Ramnoth and produced by M. Somasundaram. An adaptation of the novel Vengeance by Marie Corelli and William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the film was shot simultaneously in Hindi as Ek Tha Raja. It stars M. G. Ramachandar, Anjali Devi and Madhuri Devi, with S. V. Sahasranamam, Serukalathur Sama, N. Seetharaman, S. A. Natarajan, M. N. Nambiar and M. Pandari Bai in supporting roles.
C. R. Subbaraman also known as C. S. Ram (1916–1952) was a famous South Indian film music composer and producer. He was born to Ramasamy at Chintamani village in Thirunelveli, in present-day Tamil Nadu. Music director Shankar of Shankar–Ganesh duo was his younger brother. His ancestors were from the Krishna district of present-day Andhra Pradesh and due to this, his family spoke Telugu well.
Pakshiraja Studios was a motion picture movie studio in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, established by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu in 1945. The studio predominantly produced movies in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages, also having made one Kannada film. The studio had major releases in the 1950s and early 1960s and is well known for some blockbusters of the times.
Rani (transl. Queen) is a 1952 Indian film directed by L. V. Prasad, written by A. S. A. Sami and produced by Jupiter Pictures. The film, a Tamil-Hindi bilingual, stars P. Bhanumathi and S. Balachander. Based on the 1948 American film The Loves of Carmen, it was released on 26 April 1952.
The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India — namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu and Konkani. Although these industries developed independently for a long period of time, gross exchange of artists and technicians, as well as globalisation helped in shaping this unique identity.
Manohara is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language historical fantasy film directed by L. V. Prasad and written by M. Karunanidhi. Starring Sivaji Ganesan, T. R. Rajakumari, P. Kannamba and Girija, the film was based on the play of the same name by Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar. It was released on 3 March 1954. The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi under the same title. Those versions were released on 3 June 1954.
"Sandow"Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar was a producer of Tamil films in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring animals, and has produced numerous movies with M. G. Ramachandran as lead actor.
Paradesi or Poongothai is a 1953 Indian Telugu-Tamil bilingual romance film, produced by P. Adinarayana Rao under the Anjali pictures banner and directed by L. V. Prasad. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi, Sivaji Ganesan and music also composed by P. Adinarayana Rao. The film is a remake of the Hindi movie Raj Rani (1950). No print of Poongothai is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Kannan Shankar was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as in Hindi.
K. Ramnoth (1912–1956) was an Indian cinematographer and director active in Tamil cinema.
Arul Soosai Anthony Sami (1915–1998) better known as A. S. A. Sami was an Indian director and screenwriter who worked in Tamil films.
Sathya Studios was an Indian film studio based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was one of the oldest film studios and was formerly known as "Neptune Studio". The studio was bought by former Indian actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran and renamed as Sathya Studios.
Inspector is a 1953 Indian Tamil language film directed by R. S. Mani. It is an adaptation of the play of the same name. The film stars T. K. Shanmugam, S. Balachander, Anjali Devi and P. K. Saraswathi.
